Five times Pepper Potts slept with Tony Stark by accident
by SilverHeart09
Summary: ... and one time it was on purpose.


_Should I be writing my dissertation? Should I actually do my work now that I have a job for when I qualify? Should I update OTHER stories before posting new ones? Yes, all of this is true, but that's procrastination for you. So here's another 'Five Times' fic featuring everyone's favourite character- Rocky the cat. And enough Pepperony to cover 100 pizzas, maybe more._

_Please review!_

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_The First Time_

She wakes up on the couch feeling like she's about to throw up. Outside, she can hear the rain smashing against the windows and the wind roaring through the trees. It's dark inside her apartment, the small light she had on to read by has gone out and the lack of blinking lights or the numbers on her digital clock tells her that the power has gone out.

Pepper tries to pull herself into a sitting position and instead succeeds in succumbing to a wave of light-headedness and crashing onto the floor, the phone she'd had on her lap falling with her and landing on her stomach.

Lying there on the floor staring at the ceiling, Pepper decided there and then that she'd had enough of being single and was going to start looking for a significant other the second she made it off the floor.

If she made it off the floor, chances of that happening weren't high.

Rocky padded over to her and meowed, tipping his ginger head to one side and perking his ears, clearly wondering what possessed his human to have a nap on the floor when that's what beds and slippers are for. He experimentally prodded her in the belly with a paw, knocking her phone off in the process and meowed again, curling up against her side and purring.

Pepper managed to pull the blanket off the couch and curled up in a ball with it, breathing through her nose as another wave of nausea hit her again. She started hallucinating that her boss was calling her name and sighed, annoyed that of all the things she could hallucinate about it was that and not Johnny Depp shirtless on a beach in Barbados.

A couple more seconds later, Pepper realised that she really could hear her boss calling her and it wasn't a fragment of her sick and twisted imagination. This was actually happening.

Pepper frowned and listened carefully, Rocky did too, pricking his ears up again and meowing. Eventually, Pepper tracked the sound to her phone which must have dialled Tony when Rocky knocked it off her stomach and he was now sounding quite panicky and concerned on the other end.

'I'm fine, sorry,' Pepper mumbled, holding the phone to one ear and sounding like an eighty year old man. 'I think my cat dialled you.'

'_Are you sure?' _Tony asked. _'Because you don't sound okay, what happened? Where are you?'_

'I'm at home, I'm fine Mr Stark, really,' Pepper answered, clutching her belly as shooting pains went through them.

'_You really don't sound okay, Pep,' _her boss replied. _'Are you ill? Do you need me to come over?'_

'I'm fine stop fussing,' Pepper replied, almost in tears both at the concern in his voice and the pounding of her head. Being ill made her overly-emotional.

'_Yeah course,' _came the response. _'Call me if you need anything, okay?'_

'Yes, boss,' she replied, stroking Rocky with one hand and trying to staunch the flow of tears threatening to drip down her eyelids.

'_Pepper?'_

'Yes, Mr Stark?'

'_Are you crying?'_

'… no?'

'_I'm coming over.'_

Then the line went dead and Pepper was left staring at her phone while Rocky purred and the rain continued to lash against her windows.

Pepper desperately tried to sit upright, the nausea had passed (somewhat) but her stomach still ached and her head still pounded and she couldn't remember if she'd locked the door or not and really didn't think she'd be able to get up to let Tony in if she hadn't.

She needn't have worried though, as fifteen minutes later there was a soft knock at the door and it opened.

'Pepper?' Tony called, and she could hear what sounded like her boss removing his shoes. Good, she'd just had her carpet cleaned.

'I'm over here, follow the sound of the vibrating cat,' Pepper croaked back. She hadn't managed to sit upright, and was still curled in a ball with the blanket tucked under her and her cat now sat on her head and meowing at the strange man in his house. Although once he realised who it was he jumped off her head and padded over to him, meowing and purring happily.

'Oh Pep,' Tony said softly.

Pepper closed her eyes and dug her fingers into the soft fabric of the carpet. 'I'm okay, really,' she said.

'Of course you are,' Tony replied, sitting down next to her and tucking a piece of stray hair behind her ear. He was soaked, his hair was wet and flattened against his scalp and although he must have removed his jacket his t-shirt was wet too, as were his jeans.

'What time is it?' Pepper mumbled.

'Just gone half two,' he replied. 'Weather's still awful. Has your power gone out? I bought some candles just in case.'

'There are matches in the drawer under the sink,' Pepper said, leaning into the touch of his warm fingers through her hair.

'I'll be right back,' he replied and she heard the sound of the drawer opening and then footsteps in the direction of what sounded like her bedroom, fabric rustling, the sound of a match flaring to life and a gurgling spitting noise.

He came back a couple of minutes later and gently lifted her up and into his arms.

'Let's get you to bed,' he said softly. 'The floor can't be comfortable. Do you feel sick?'

'Not anymore,' Pepper mumbled. She still felt ill but the nausea had gone and the pounding in her head had subsided somewhat.

Tony carried her into her room and placed her gently into her bed. He'd pulled the covers back to make it easy to get in and added a couple of extra pillows, along with locating an extra blanket. There were three or four large candles dotted around the room and a large glass of water on her dresser. The gurgling sound turned out to be her portable heater which he'd switched on and positioned by her bed.

'Thanks, Tony,' Pepper said sleepily as he tucked her in, pulling the covers up to her chest and tucking the blanket around her.

'You're welcome,' he said softly.

Then there as a very large crunch which came from outside making them both start.

'I'll go see what it is,' Tony said as Rocky jumped up and landed with a thump on the sheets. 'Don't go anywhere.'

'Not a large chance of that happening,' Pepper mumbled as Tony left the room and Rocky meowed at his retreating back.

'So… good news and bad news,' Tony said when he came back five minutes later even wetter than before. 'Good news, I finally have a valid excuse to get the new Audi. Bad news, a tree totalled my car. Can I borrow your couch?'

'Sorry,' Pepper said. 'This is probably my fault.'

'You don't control the elements, Pep,' Tony replied. 'These things happen. Plus new car, silver linings and all that.'

'There's sweats and stuff in the bottom drawer,' Pepper said, locating her foot under the duvet and using it to point to the aforementioned drawer. 'Knock yourself out. My ex left them so they should fit.'

Once Tony had pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms and a baggy t-shirt he knelt next to a now sleeping Pepper and brushed the hair away from her face.

'Night, Pepper,' he said softly, and kissed her forehead before vacating to the couch and grabbing a blanket on the way.

**XxXxXxX**

He was woken half an hour later by moaning coming from Pepper's room and padded across the floor to see if she was okay.

Pepper had managed to get most of the duvet on the floor and was shaking from head to foot. When he placed a hand on her forehead it was hot to touch and her face was flushed but she was shivering like she was cold.

Tony grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and ran it under the cold water for a while before climbing in bed with Pepper and rearranging the duvet so it was over both of them. He pulled her gently towards him and her arm wrapped automatically around his waist, settling her head in the crook of his neck. Tony tucked the sheets around her and placed the cloth on her forehead, gently wiping away the sweat and running his fingers through her hair.

'Thanks, Tony,' Pepper mumbled, but Tony couldn't tell if she was awake or not.

'You're more than welcome,' he said quietly and closed his eyes.

**XxXxXxX**

When Pepper woke up the next morning, she was warm and felt cosy and relaxed. Her head wasn't pounding so hard and the early morning light was shining softly through the window.

Rocky meowed from the foot of her bed and pawed his way over to the side of the bed behind her, pouncing on something that made an 'oof' sound.

Pepper froze instinctively and for the first time became aware of an arm slung across her waist and warmth on her back.

The person behind her moved and burrowed against her back. 'Morning,' he mumbled. 'How are you feeling?'

'Tony?' Pepper asked, confusion and a feeling of dread beginning to settle in. She noticed something damp near her face and gave it an experimental flick, on further examination it turned out to be a washcloth.

'The one and only,' Tony said, sitting up. 'Do you feel better?'

Gradually, the events of last night came back to her and Pepper noticed her clock now had numbers blinking cheerfully at her. At least the power was back on.

'I do feel better,' Pepper said, pulling herself into a sitting position so she could see her boss, whose hair was sticking upright as if it had been plugged into an electric socket. Pepper cursed herself when she found herself contemplating how ridiculously adorable Tony Stark was in the morning. His hair was mussed, his cheeks were still sleep pink, his eyes were tired and blinking blearily at her and he was absentmindedly scratching the back of his neck.

'Thank you for looking after me, Mr Stark,' Pepper said with a smile, pushing that little voice that was saying _you're in bed with your boss! _to the back of her mind and instead focusing on that small smile that was spreading across said boss's face.

'Any time, Miss Potts,' he replied. 'I'll go put the kettle on.'

He pulled himself out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom, Rocky close on his heels and meowing, giving Pepper a truly terrific view of his ass.

He was only in the kitchen for approximately 30 seconds when Pepper heard him exclaim 'OH BOLLOCKS' very loudly.

'What is it?' Pepper asked, quickly climbing out of bed and making her way to the kitchen where she could see clear as day out of her window the remains of one of Tony's cars crushed mercilessly under a fallen tree.

'For a moment,' Tony said after quiet contemplation of the tree on car situation, 'I'd forgotten that had happened.'

'How about I get dressed and we'll go get you a new one?' Pepper asked, smiling.

Tony chuckled. 'You must have read my mind, Potts.' Then he looked at her with a smile on his face and pulled her in for a hug. 'I'm glad you're feeling better,' he said into her hair.

And Pepper, remembering her promise to herself to find a new boyfriend when she got off the floor, realised that no matter how many men she met, none of them would compare to Tony Stark. He had officially ruined her for all future boyfriends.

_Oh hell, _she thought to herself. _I'm in trouble. _


End file.
